The Ravenous Minotaur from Greek Mythology

The spooky month of October is here! The Sounds News Team will post articles about various mythical creatures and monsters throughout the month talking of their history, origin, and characteristics to contribute to the spooky season. Our first creature is the Minotaur, the monster amalgamation of a human body with the head of a bull. In Greek, Minotaur means ‘bull of Minos.’ 

The origin of the Minotaur begins with Poseidon, god of the sea, earthquakes and horses, giving Minos a magnificent, snow-white bull. Minos prayed that a bull would appear from the sea, so he could prove to his brothers that he had support from the gods to rule Crete. He was supposed to sacrifice the bull, since he had vowed to do this in his prayer to Poseidon. But, Minos kept the beautiful bull alive and as punishment Poseidon made Minos’ wife Pasiphae fall in love with the bull. She confided in Daedalus, a mythical Greek architect, among other things, to build a wooden cow with real cow hide to conceal Pasiphae. The wooden structure hid her and transported her to the meadow where her beautiful bull was waiting and later, Pasiphae and the bull conceived the Minotaur.

The newborn Minotaur was taken care of by Pasiphae for a while until it became too big and she couldn’t satiate his hunger on her own, the Minotaur’s appetite evolved to humans. In the meantime, Minos decided to make Daedalus build the Labyrinth, a large maze, to keep the Minotaur trapped so he could hide the only evidence of his wife’s affair.  

Minos decided to use the Minotaur to get revenge on the Athenians for killing his son, Androgeos by kidnapping seven Athenian youths and maidens every year to be eaten by the Minotaur. After the third year of sacrifices, an Athenian hero named Theseus volunteered to be sacrificed, hoping he would be able to kill the Minotaur. 

With the help of Minos and Pasiphae’s daughter, Ariadne, Theseus was given a ball of yarn that he would tie to the door and carry with him as he went through the maze so he would not get lost. It is uncertain if the method of the Minotaur’s death is fact of fiction but it is rumored that he used his fist to beat him to death, or that he snuck a sword into the Labyrinth and slayed the monster with the blade. Legend has it he murders the Minotaur and escapes with Ariadne and her sister Phaedra to Athens where they spend the rest of their days rid of the beast.